In the autumn of 2016, a 34-year-old Chinese American man named Quan Zheng sought to build a better life for his family. Having recently moved from New York City to Chesterfield County, Virginia, he began a new job as a chef at a Chinese takeout restaurant. Tragically, only his third day into this new chapter, on the evening of September 16, 2016, his aspirations were brutally cut short in Richmond. Filling in for a sick colleague, Mr. Zheng was making his final food delivery of the night when he was lured into a deadly ambush.
The events of that evening unfolded on the 1400 block of Lenmore Street, where it is believed a fictitious order was placed to draw him to the location. Upon exiting his vehicle, Mr. Zheng was viciously attacked and robbed by unknown assailants. In a horrifying turn of events, the attackers then used his own delivery car as a weapon, striking him and leaving him with devastating injuries. He succumbed to these injuries the following day.
In a chilling and cruel twist, the assailants used Mr. Zheng's stolen cellphone to take pictures of the brutal assault. Unbeknownst to them, these images were automatically streamed to his family's iPad in New York. The family, initially confused by the disturbing photos, would later come to the heartbreaking realization that they were witnessing the final moments of their loved one's life.
The senseless violence left a wife without her husband and three children without their father. In the wake of the tragedy, concerns were raised by community members and Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez about the possibility of the attack being racially motivated, with some linking it to a song that encouraged the targeting of Chinese Americans. As of the latest available information, the Richmond Police Department's investigation was ongoing, but no arrests had been made, and no suspects had been publicly identified in the case.
